Poem of the Week: “An fuath”/”Hatred” by Máire Mhac an tSaoi

This poem from Máire Mhac an tSaoi’s The Miraculous Parish was written for a political cabaret in New York organized by John Arden as a protest against the Vietnam war.

An fuath (1967)

Is é a dh’éilíonn an fuath fadfhulang
agus fadaradhna,
Is é a dh’éilíonn an fuath neamhaithne
agus daille na foighne,
Is é a dh’éilíonn an fuath méar shocair
ar ghaiste an raidhfil—
Is ná scaoil go bhfeicfir gealadh na súl
mar ghealacán uibh id radharc uait!

San am a mbláthóidh an fuath troidfear ar
thrínsí sráide
Is leathfar an ghloine bhriste roimh eacha
póilíní ar cos in airde—
Ach idir an dá linn, an fuath, is maith an
leasú é ar ghairdín
Ar dhu’í gain’í idir dhá thaoide—
mar a maireann ár mná ’s ár bpáistí!

Hatred (1967)

Hatred demands patience and deadened senses,
Hatred waits for its chance;
Hatred keeps a steady finger on the trigger
And won’t pull it till it sees the whites of the eyes
Like egg-whites-whites in its sights!

When hatred blossoms there will be fighting in the streets
And broken bottles flung at the rearing horses of the riot police;
But in the meantime hatred improves the garden
Built on sand-dunes between two tides—
Where our women and children live.

–Máire Mhac an tSaoi, trans. Peter Sirr, from The Miraculous Parish (2014)